Dear World

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Dear World began in New Orleans as a way for people to write a love note their city on their bodies. Founded by Robert X. Fogarty.
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Now we've create storytelling experiences that connect people to their values.

10/15/2026

Dear Robert,

It’s me, Change. The only constant thing in your life.
I see you staring at your baby photo. Nubia keeps showing it to people, insisting Helena looks like her. Deep down she knows Baby Helena is a replica of you.
You’ve been teaching people that a story is simple: things were one way, something happened, and here’s how it changed. You’ve made it all about me. Are you trying to suck up to me?

Your doctor drove in from vacation with a boat trailing her. You asked last minute if you could record, and she said yes. Nubia says she looked awful that night. You remember thinking mothers are warriors and nurses are the field medics who make it all possible.
Maria Fatima flew in from Brazil with no sleep and stayed up with you. There is nothing like a mother’s love. I wish your mother were here to see this. 
Here’s the truth. Helena didn’t explode your heart on night one. On day 2 she looked like an old man, Nubia was exhausted, and you just existed. You wondered if the love would ever come. 
Then on day 4, the nurse asked you to buckle her into the car seat.
The belt went click. 
Your heart swelled. Your eyes filled. Best moment of your life.

Change means letting go of the person you were for the person you’re becoming. Don’t be afraid of me. Work with me, talk to me, lean on me. People wake up one day and not the next, and sometimes that I love you will be your last. 
She’ll change you slowly, quickly, and all at once. Soon she’ll lift her head, babble, crawl, walk, listen to terrible pop music, and fall in love. So embrace today. I’ll be back tomorrow to change things again. 
Your friend, Change

that's me in 1983.

Helena Xavier Fogarty. First photo by her dad.

First Touch

Maria de Fatima making a ponytail for Nubia.

Nubia & Helena.

Helena's first bath.

Nubia & Helena, first day at home.

10/13/2026

What makes a portrait unforgettable?

It’s not the perfect pose. It’s the connection, the questions, and the moments that reveal something real.

Real people. Real emotions. No performance.

The art of being seen, through the lens of our founder, Robert X. Fogarty.

10/05/2026

Music heals, listen to Team Gleason’s new song while you marvel in his journey with ALS. We photographed him 13 years apart. Keep going Steve Gleason and Geaux New Orleans Saints tonight!

09/29/2026

“She always told us to look for the beauty and joy in life.”

Four years after her mom passed away, Nicole had been asking her for a sign. Then an email from Dear World arrived—with that photograph.

Her first thought: “Whoa. That’s my mom saying hi.”

When Robert sat down with Nicole, he asked where the words “Look for the Magic, Not the Obstacles” came from.

Nicole: It came from my mom, Kim. She was an optimist and one of the most joyous people I’ve ever known. You could hear her laugh across a store.

At the time, I had recently left a difficult work environment. My mom would always tell me, “Keep looking for the magic.” She reminded me that even in hard experiences, there was beauty in what I was learning and where it could lead me.

Robert: What did it mean when your Dear World photo came back into your life?

Nicole: My mom passed away four years ago, and recently I’d been asking her for a sign. I kept saying, “Mom, just give me a sign. Tell me you’re there. Tell me you’re okay.”

Then I got the email from Dear World with that photograph. I thought, “Whoa. That’s my mom saying hi.”

Robert: What do you remember from your final conversations with her?

Nicole: I asked her, “Is there anything you want me to know?” And she said, “No, I’ve already taught you everything.”

She always told me she was proud of me. Even though she isn’t here physically, I still hear her in the back of my head. I’m the mom I am today because of her.

Robert: What do you hope to pass on to your daughters?

Nicole: Imagination and courage.

My mom taught us that imagination sparks joy, and joy sparks the magic.

I’m from Hawaii, and we have a saying, “Imua”—to always move forward. I want my girls to know that obstacles will come, but they can always keep moving forward. They just need the courage to look ahead.

09/26/2026

Dear Respect,

I work with companies on mission, vision, values, and the stories that bind people together. I’ve also heard a lot of CEOs described as servant leaders.

At Dear World events, I often invite leaders to do something simple: stand with their people. Help write their messages on their bodies. Ask what the words mean. Listen.

Almost none take me up on it.

But Mehran Assadi, CEO of National Life Group, did.

At National Life Group’s Texas office, we photographed 400 people. Mehran didn’t make a brief appearance. He stood in the line for hours—asking associates about their messages, writing their words on them, and listening.

One story stayed with him.

Two women had worked beside each other for 28 years. They were friends and knew each other’s routines. But during the process, one revealed that she had battled cancer.

“How come you never told me?”

That was the beauty of the process. People let their guards down. They discovered things about one another that proximity alone had never revealed.

Years earlier, standing in another Dear World line, Mehran had written two words that would follow him into leadership:

Respect All.

Because diversity means every person brings a different life experience, perspective, and story.

Sincerely,
RXF

09/22/2026

Inside Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan. A Dear World collaboration with We Are People, sharing the stories of those affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.

09/15/2026

Robert Xavier Fogarty: Take me back to the moment you learned your job was gone.

Anita: I had been with the company for 19 years. I started as a graphic designer, moved into marketing, and eventually became an event planner. I had built a career there and was producing events that closed millions of dollars in business.

I was in the Detroit airport, about to fly to Toronto, when my boss called with HR and told me my position had been eliminated. I remember thinking, “I’m doing good work. I don’t understand.” Then I got on the plane, sat in the last row by the bathroom, and cried.

Robert: Where did “Change Can Be Beautiful” come from?

Anita: After I landed in Toronto, I saw a construction sign showing eggs on a branch, a chrysalis, and then a monarch butterfly. It said, “Change can be beautiful.”

It was about construction, but I internalized it. I thought, “Okay, Anita, this has changed. How are you going to meet it?” Later, during the Dear World experience, that became the message I wrote.

Robert: Who helped you through that moment?

Anita: My meeting-planner friends surrounded me immediately. We had studied for our CMP together and had become like sisters. One printed my résumé, another made business cards, and they started connecting me with people.

They didn’t just say, “Let me know if you need anything.” They acted, but also gave me space when I needed to process.

Robert: What did losing that job teach you?

Anita: That a job is not everything. I had given 19 years, sometimes working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week. I learned not to put my entire identity into something that wasn’t giving back to me.

It also taught me resilience. Losing a job is painful, but it is not the end of the world.

Robert: What does your Dear World photo mean to you now?

Anita: I keep it on my desktop and phone. When work gets stressful, I pull it up.

It reminds me, “You’ve been through stuff. You can do anything. You can survive anything and still be happy.” Before that moment, I defined myself by my job. The photo reminds me that a job does not define me.

09/11/2026

Over the years, Dear World has had the privilege of hearing deeply personal September 11th stories.

Today, we’re sharing three of them.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗰𝗘𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻
Mary Kate celebrated her eighth birthday on September 8, 2001. He gave her a sparkly purple bike and a matching helmet.

Three days later, she lost her father, John T. McErlean Jr., who was 39 years old.

Years later, Mary Kate shared with Dear World how losing her father shaped the way she chooses to live: “Start being the person you always wanted to be today and don’t waste your time worrying about tomorrow.”

𝗠𝗶𝗺𝗶 𝗕𝗼𝗰𝗸
Every time I see it, the black background, my resolve, it just feels like it was my message to the world. I think how much I love the photograph, I think about 9/11 - but I also think back to how impactful the Dear World event was for me and all of my colleagues.

Mimi was on the 63rd floor of 2 World Trade Center, the South Tower, on September 11.

Her story is one of survival, gratitude, empathy, faith, and learning to recognize the pain other people carry. “9/11 has given me a more profound sense of empathy and compassion for those in any kind of pain.”

𝗧𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗺𝗲𝘀
Torsten was building his career in New York when he met Edward, a bond trader who lived in his building. What began as conversations between neighbors grew into occasional coffees to talk business.

That morning, Torsten was due to meet Edward for coffee at the World Trade Center. Torsten was running late and ended up on a train that got stuck under ground as the attacks began.
Edward died in the attack.

For Torsten, the years that followed brought a question he continues to carry: “What am I going to do with the time I was given?”
His Dear World message became “No Bad Days.”

Today, we remember.
Robert X. Fogarty

09/03/2026

Everyone has a value they’re still growing into. What if it wrote you back?
Write Your Future — coming soon.

Address

310 S Rampart
New Orleans, LA
70112

Telephone

(800) 413-0489

Website

http://dearworld.com/, http://dearworld.org/

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